In the construction of oil or gas wells it is usually necessary to line the wellbore with a string of steel pipes commonly known as a “tubular” or tubing or generically as oil country tubular goods (“OCTG”). Because of the length of the tubular string required, individual sections of tubular are typically progressively added to the string in the wellbore as it is lowered into a well from a drilling rig or platform. The section to be added is restrained from falling in to the well by some tubular engagement means, typically a spider, and is lowered into the well to position the threaded pin of the tubular adjacent the threaded box of the tubular in the wellbore. The sections are then joined by relative rotation of the sections until such time as the desired total length has been achieved.